1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fan drive apparatus and particularly a fan drive apparatus mounted on an image forming apparatus, and also relates to an image forming apparatus having the fan drive apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional image forming apparatus, fans are generally used to suppress temperature rise in the apparatus caused by thermal fixing of toner particles and heat generated by motor operation. A plurality of fans are often equipped within an image forming apparatus when efficient air flow is needed for cooling. However, the use of a plurality of fans generates noise associated with the apparatus. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-129383 discusses a method for controlling the plurality fans in such a manner that the air volume is controlled to be a specified air volume.
However, according to the method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-129383, if the conditions of the air flow space vary due to changes in the operating conditions of the apparatus, the fan load may increase. Consequently, the driving power supplied to the fans increases which results in increased power consumption.